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It's less than two years since the "little rocket man" in North Korea announced that his ballistic missiles might have the Pacific island of Guam as their next target. James Mattis, the then US defence secretary, immediately warned that there would be massive retaliation if they hit Guam or any other part of the United States.

This was no doubt very reassuring to the Guamanians, but perhaps quite puzzling to the many millions of Americans who had never imagined that Guam was part of the United States in the first place. Guam is indeed US territory. Are Guamanians US citizens? Yes – though not by constitutional right, only thanks to...